Torquing down the LIM

[Dave_R]

Hi all,
Ran into a problem when installing the LIM yesterday.
I have the FelPro (2nd) design gaskets (the metal ones).
They are lined up, and the rubber pins are in the alignment holes on the heads, and the gasket sits flush.
I put the Silicone on the valleys, and set the LIM on. Started the vertical bolts by hand, and ran them in, but not tight so that the LIM still "floats".
Checked the gasket for shifting, gaps, etc and all looks real good.
Started two of the diagonal bolts on the #1 and #2 cylinder side by hand (not tightened). Went to put the other side diagonal bolts in and they are not lined up (looks as if the LIM must go DOWN a little to align).
I started to tighten the Vertical bolts, pushing the LIM down. The problem is, I am already at (or may have exceeded a little) the 115 in/lbs for the verticals and it still need a "touch" more to align the two diagonals. There is no interference and nothing is touching the LIM preventing it from seating. All Parts are very clean from any dirt. If I push on the LIM with the palms of my hand, I can still move it down some, I just cannot hold it and put the bolts in at the same time.
This is where I stopped to ask:
If I crank the verticals a little more to just get the diagonals to start, and immediately loosen the verticals, will that be OK? Or can I leave the verticals a little tighter than spec?

[manicmechanix]

You are going about it wrong. You should have first hand thread ALL the bolts in place before tightening the vertical bolts and made sure they all threaded in and held the gasket in alignment. My guess is the gasket slipped out of its mounting tabs, and you really should unloosen the verticle bolts and if necessary lift the LIM off and reposition the gaskets in their tabs.

[Forscythe87]

Originally Posted by Dave_R

Hi all,
Ran into a problem when installing the LIM yesterday.
I have the FelPro (2nd) design gaskets (the metal ones).
They are lined up, and the rubber pins are in the alignment holes on the heads, and the gasket sits flush.
I put the Silicone on the valleys, and set the LIM on. Started the vertical bolts by hand, and ran them in, but not tight so that the LIM still "floats".
Checked the gasket for shifting, gaps, etc and all looks real good.
Started two of the diagonal bolts on the #1 and #2 cylinder side by hand (not tightened). Went to put the other side diagonal bolts in and they are not lined up (looks as if the LIM must go DOWN a little to align).
I started to tighten the Vertical bolts, pushing the LIM down. The problem is, I am already at (or may have exceeded a little) the 115 in/lbs for the verticals and it still need a "touch" more to align the two diagonals. There is no interference and nothing is touching the LIM preventing it from seating. All Parts are very clean from any dirt. If I push on the LIM with the palms of my hand, I can still move it down some, I just cannot hold it and put the bolts in at the same time.
This is where I stopped to ask:
If I crank the verticals a little more to just get the diagonals to start, and immediately loosen the verticals, will that be OK? Or can I leave the verticals a little tighter than spec?

Is this on a 3.1? I just did the job on my car. You need to hand tighten everything then torque the vertical bolts begging from the right (front to back). If everything is seated properly you shouldn't have a problem getting the horizontal ones in.

Use some thread sealant on the bolts too.

I had the same problem as you and had to lift up the manifold and reseat it. Sure beats having to take everything apart and than reassemble because of not wanting to take the time to do things right.

[Dave_R]

It's been a few years, and this is the 4th 3100 engine (vin M) that I have done, but the first one using the FelPro steel gaskets (This style did not exist when I did the others).

This is the first one that has been fighting back!!!

Yes, I lifted the LIM off and repositioned the gaskets a few times, and each time I lifted it off, the gaskets are in place (tabs in holes in the heads and seated flush) I removed the gaskets each time and put them back on each time.

LIM, heads, block, bolts, etc. are very clean and dry (look like new parts).
I hand started the vertical bolts (I used sealer on all of the bolts), hand started the two diagonals by #1-2 Cylinder, and the delima is that I can hand-start only one of the diagonals on the #5-6 cylinder side. Whichever one I hand start, the remaining bolt does not seem to be aligned. It was off just enough that you could not hand-start it.

I ended up slowly tightening the verticals carefully to "push" the LIM down enough for that last bolt to get a "bite".

When I finally got them all started, I did find that I was not yet at torque (thankfully) on the verticals.

Last night I went ahead and was able to seat it using the new torque method: (found this on the 60degreev6.com web site)

1. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 7N·m (62 lb in).
2. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 7N·m(62 lb in).
3. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 13N·m(115 lb in).
4. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 25N·m(18 lb ft).

Looks as if all is well. Thanks for all your input and support!!!